By Emily Bingham | ebingham@mlive.com

LANSING, MICH. -- The 2022 fishing license season is set to begin in Michigan, and with it will come expanded opportunities for anglers interested in spearfishing.

Starting April 1, underwater spearfishing in Michigan will expand to include the chance to harvest additional species, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

In addition to previous DNR-approved species, acceptable species for underwater spearfishing will now include walleye, northern pike and lake trout in Lake Michigan (specifically in waters south of the southernmost pier at Grand Haven) and Lake Huron (in waters south of the southernmost pier of the Thunder Bay River, extending south to the mouth of the St. Clair River/Fort Gratiot Light).

This expansion requires that anglers obtain a new underwater spearfishing license; there are also monthly effort and harvest reporting requirements. The underwater spearfishing license is complimentary, unless a DNR Sportcard is needed, and will be available only online at Michigan.gov/DNRLicenses.

More details on spearfishing regulations can be found on page 16 of the DNR’s 2022 fishing guide.

All 2022 fishing licenses are valid from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023.

More information at the DNR’s Fishing in Michigan page.

 Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) today applauded a plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to expand and accelerate activities to cleanup and restore Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The funding draws from the historic $1 billion investment in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In addition to its enhanced focus on Areas of Concern, U.S. EPA reiterated its commitment to addressing other key issues such as harmful algal blooms, nutrient reduction, and aquatic invasive species, which are priorities for the GLC.

“Accelerating the restoration of Great Lakes Areas of Concern is a beneficial move for our region,” said GLC Chair Todd L. Ambs of Wisconsin. “This work protects the environment and human health and is a great economic driver for the region as well.” 

“The Great Lakes Commission is grateful to U.S. EPA for their continued partnership on efforts to restore Great Lakes resources,” said Erika Jensen, executive director of the GLC. “We forward to seeing this critical work continue in collaboration with other federal, state, and local partners.”

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement designated the Great Lakes Areas of Concern as significantly impaired locations in the Great Lakes basin. The plan released by U.S. EPA will lead to the restoration of 28 of the original 31 U.S. sites by 2030, with the remaining three set to be restored shortly thereafter.

 

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The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Todd L. Ambs, deputy secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (retired), is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.

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The 'mich-rap' email group is a service of the Great Lakes Commission. Visit us at www.glc.org.
 

 

Isle Royale in Lake Superior

 

 

Greenstones, Wolves, Moose, Thimbleberries, and the Isle Royale redfin lake trout

 

On the map, Isle Royale looks like the eye in the wolf’s head shape of Lake Superior with Duluth its snout and the Keweenaw Peninsula its mouth.  It is precious since there are few places left on this planet that have been preserved like this.  It is unique; some of the oldest rocks on this planet form Isle Royale, its plants and animals and minerals.  There are copper mining pits on the Island where native Americans dug rich veins of copper long ago.

 

     When I think of Isle Royale, I think of Eden, a place away from cars and the noise of machinery. There is no traffic on Isle Royale; only hiking trails.   The sounds of Isle Royale are of bugling moose, the silvery songs of northern songbirds, the lapping of waves on rocks and the quavering voices of loons.  Sometimes there is the slap of a beaver’s tail.  The resident pack of wolves are elusive and seldom seen.  We did not hear them at all.

 

     My husband and I hiked the trails there and I’ll never forget the thimbleberries higher than our heads along a trail.  We picked the large berries like none other I have ever tasted, copper color, tangy and delicious.

 

          We found greenstones, Michigan’s semi precious stone.  We stayed on Isle Royale for a week and every day we took a different hiking trail.  We watched a diving duck teaching her young to dive.  We saw a fox near its den and had a close encounter with a moose.   As we hiked, my husband Norm said, “I smell a moose.”  I didn’t believe him, but as we came around the bend, there it was, bigger than life, standing athwart our trail.  We kept a respectful distance and it casually strolled off.

 

          We did not fish, but the rocks off of the island are the place where the Isle Royale redfin lake trout spawn as they have for millennia.  This is an endemic species and its good to know it is still returning to Isle Royale every year before returning to the depths of Lake Superior.

 

          In my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes, I have a section devoted to this very special fish, the Isle Royale redfin lake trout.

 

                                                     

                                                                      Paiute Shaman

                                                          His long thin braids have deerskin fringes.

He wears silver and turquoise talismans.

Sacred datura, ceremonies, 

sweat lodges, let him see

several worlds with eyes

that penetrate the darkness of caves

in canyon walls

where many old ones are lain.

 

He knows worlds within worlds

from Utah to Viet Nam

where village elders tell similar stories.

 

The Paiute shaman knows

guiding spirits will emerge

in the end when

fires and floods ravage

this world.

 

Then red haired guides

will take us by our hands

as we walk into time and space

and lead us out. 

 

 

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